Ege University | Izmir | November 24, 2023
In collaboration with the Faculty of Fine Arts, Design and Architecture and the Dean's Office of Students at Ege University, I organized an event titled "META Quest 3: A New Cinema Experience with Virtual Reality Technology" on November 24, 2023. Prepared with the support of my doctoral advisor, Prof. Dr. Alev Fatoş Parsa, the event was held at AROM on campus.
The starting point of the event was my doctoral research at the time, titled "The Transforming Identity of Cinema with New Technologies: Virtual Reality and 360-Degree Video": we wanted to show how the viewing experience transforms when cinema steps outside the rectangular framework it has existed within for over a century, this time going beyond a theoretical presentation and allowing students to experience it firsthand. Following the presentation, participants tried out virtual reality films and experiences themselves with Meta Quest 3, one of the most up-to-date independent VR headsets of the time.
The most valuable aspect of the event for me was observing the reactions of students experiencing VR for the first time the moment they put on the headset. For a viewer accustomed to watching from a seated position, their first encounter with an experience where they choose their own viewing direction and are positioned within the space was a vivid demonstration of the "transformation from spectator to participant" concept that I discussed conceptually in my thesis.
I would like to thank the Faculty of Fine Arts, Design and Architecture, the Dean's Office for Students, my advisor Prof. Dr. Alev Fatoş Parsa, and all the students who enriched the event with their curiosity and questions, for making this meeting possible.
